Sidney Holmes cleared and freed after 34 years in prison

Cries of joy, interspersed with tears. After 34 years in prison, Sidney Holmes has just been found not guilty and released. He had been sentenced to 400 years in prison. On June 19, 1988, Sidney Holmes, then 22 years old, was accused of having served as a driver during a robbery. Imprisoned, he never ceased to proclaim his innocence. Even relatives of the victims have expressed doubts about his guilt.

“I don’t know why this happened to me”

After two years of investigation by a special review unit, the now fifty-something was cleared. “I don’t know why it happened to me, when I was only 22 years old, life was smiling at me. I had a career, I was studying to become a surgical nurse. And when this story fell on it, in a snap of my fingers, I lost everything”, says Sidney Holmes. Her daughter was only 7 months old when she was incarcerated.

At the time, prosecutors asked judges to sentence him to 800 years in prison for failing to report his alleged accomplices. He could now claim several million dollars in compensation.